No matter who wins Australia will have the most lethal 8x8 in the world????

via AFR.com

The Defence Department's program to replace its combat reconnaissance vehicles has come down to a contest between two prime contractors, but regardless of which vehicle is selected, the Australian army will end up with the most lethal and modern eight-wheeler in the world, says an executive at Rheinmettal Defence Australia.

"Both our Boxer and the AMV35 are very impressive vehicles," says Rheinmettal Defence Australia chief operating officer Gary Stewart. "It doesn't matter which vehicle the Defence Department goes with, it will be a significant enhancement of what the ASLAV does already."

The Australian Commonwealth is conducting a $20 billion vehicle replacement program called LAND 400 which sees the current eight-wheeler ASLAV (Australian Light Armoured Vehicle) replaced by the Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle (CRV), and a new infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) replacing the current tracked M113 armoured personnel carrier. LAND 400 also has a systems integration component, ensuring the Army's vehicles can operate in the ADF's broader electronic warfare (EW) systems.

The LAND 400 Phase 2 program currently sees two eight-wheeler vehicles – the 'Boxer' from Rheinmettal and the AMV35 from BAE Systems-Patria – competing in a Risk Mitigation Activity conducted by the ADF.

In the first week of June, the two vehicles were tested in live firing exercises and in July they will be tested for their blast survivability, each vehicle undergoing two blasts.

"We were happy with the live firing exercise," says Stewart. "Both vehicles will deliver much greater lethality than the ASLAV."

Stewart says the concerns with sourcing eight-wheeler combat reconnaissance vehicles from Europe showed itself to be ill-founded when the Australian Army conducted mobility exercises around Darwin earlier this year.

Stewart says the ASLAV was unable to complete some terrain exercises that the Boxer and AMV35 were competent over.

Story here. 

Uh...ok...but does it really matter when a multi-million dollar vehicle can be shredded by a couple hundred thousand dollar rocket fired by a guy in sandals?

Maybe a bit of chest thumping is to be expected, but tactical proficiency might be a better thing to focus on, not the vehicle itself.  Equip the man, not man the equipment.